


holidays from far away

by Blepbean



Category: Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (Cartoon)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, just good vibes all around, kenji and darius invented the word brotherism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:22:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28316706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blepbean/pseuds/Blepbean
Summary: They're still stuck on the island, but realising that it's the holidays, the kids manage to somehow celebrate it through tiny and little things.He looks up to Kenji, and there it is, that smile. His eyes crinkles, the light hitting him just right which outlines his jawline in a golden haze. His eyes are the colour of the earth, holding so many riches deep underground, golds and diamonds. Ben thinks, he likes the colour dark brown now.Yeah.That’s his favourite colour now.
Relationships: Kenji Kon/Ben Pincus
Comments: 9
Kudos: 81





	holidays from far away

**Author's Note:**

> hi bestie this was for my jwcc secret santa, i hope you like this cute little benkenji fic with lots of domestic fluff from the kids celebrating the holidays < 3 < 3

After they found Ben sleeping in a gyrosphere, tucked away in a small cave, Kenji now hangs onto Ben like a thread. He’s always close to him as if a flying dinosaur materialises out of thin air and swoops Ben up again, or if a giant hole forms on the ground within seconds, Kenji will always be just arm’s length away from Ben to protect him.

Which Ben finds… weird. He managed to survive about a month (give or take, time seems to blur when you’re alone) with Bumpy. He rummaged through hot dogs stands and ate stale bread,  _ borrowed  _ some camping equipment from the lost and found and kept sane as he spun tales in the middle of the day. He knows the island like the back of his hand now.

But Ben thinks, it’s nice, having someone always be there. Sometimes though, they touch, like the brush of the hand or Kenji pulling him away from the brush that slightly moves in the wind. Kenji isn’t the same, like everyone else they’ve been shaped from the island. But it’s like he’s not the dumb, rich kid that Ben thought Kenji was.

He’s: soft, understanding and caring.

He’s still reckless and sometimes asks Darius how to tell apart his left and right.

So he's the same, but, just without the rich douchery. Which is weird, since they were like fire and water when they first met. 

Ben thinks he likes the new Kenji. It’s like coming home to a house, where everything is just a little bit better, a little cleaner, dust wiped off the desk, the air a little lighter. He could get used to this, he thinks. Ben watches from his little crook of the corner in the huge cafeteria that they’re camping out in, the doors locked and barricaded with chairs.

Kenji is there in the centre of the cafeteria , attempting to help Darius with the heater before night seeps into the dusty windows and casts the whole building into a food court with a dark gloom. Right now however, there’s a peaceful and light yellow tinge from the sunlight, lighting up the whole cafeteria. Ben puts his picture book down that he’s been reading, and really  _ looks  _ at the both of them. Kenji is nodding and asking questions to whatever Darius is talking about, they share this intimate bubble that feels too private to look at.

Kenji hasn’t talked about his family much, he only knows that he lives in a giant mansion and plays bowling in his basement. He doesn’t mention any siblings. Ben thinks he’s the only child. So it makes sense, seeing Kenji treat Darius like his own blood, like they grew up together, arguing over who gets the last slice of pizza, seeing which drink has slightly more, playing stupid pranks at each other.

Ben could see them as brothers. Kenji being the ‘responsible older brother’ and actually being the dumb one, while Darius being the  _ actual  _ responsible one and having to clean up the mess that Kenji makes.

“They act like they’re family,” Brooklynn suddenly says, she sits down next to him and brushes the dust from her pink jack, “I mean like, we’re family or whatever but it’s almost as if…” she twirls her fingers in the air like she’s trying to spin words into existence, “they’re brothers from another mother. That’s the phase, right?”

“Sure.”

Brooklynn sits next to him, tucking her knees close to her chest while she draws a heavy breath, “Darius talks about his brother, Brand, sometimes. He looks like he  _ really  _ misses him.”

“I’m sure,” Ben says, “he really… I hear him mumbling to himself sometimes about his family and stuff, you know? I-it’s kinda weird but… sweet, I guess.”

He wonders how him and Brand revolve one another. Is it like a teasing type of relationships? Brand sometimes walking into his room justt to annoy him, purposely leaving the door open to get a heavy sigh from Darius. Or perhaps, it’s the tender but tough love kind? Where Brand sometimes nudges him in the shoulder to get up, to just try a little harder. But when Darius can’t get up after an hour, he comes back into his room with a hot cup of cocoa, steaming, smelling of cinnamon and warmth.

It’s… sweet and warm.

Brooklynn chuckles, “maybe Kenji is already thinking of adopting Darius.”

It gets a laugh out of him, pulling him out of the thoughts that he’s missing the holidays, snow on the driveway and snuggling up near a window with blankets and a book. Sometimes, he likes to trace the words on the paper, really feel the roughness, the smoothness of every inch of the paper.

But he’s right now, he’s stuck on an island. 

Sammy breaks through the heavy air of the giant room, sighing loudly as her and Yasmina finishes putting up the barricades on the door (except for one, it leads to the gift shop)

“Everyone seems to be in a bit of a slump today!” Sammy adjusts her headband, she stands up on the table and crosses her arm.

“Because we’re stuck on an island, Sammy,” Brooklyn hums, “I literally haven’t posted an unboxing video in so long—”

“—probably because you don’t have a camera to make a vlog with,” Yasmina cuts in.   
  


“I’m hungry,” Kenji moans.

“Kenji, you refused to eat a hotdog because you thought that it was made of worms,” Darius says.

“Prove me wrong, dude.”   
  


“Anyways!” Sammy hops back down to the floor, “did we just forget that it’s the holidays? Come on guys.”

It’s December. He should be watching disgustingly cliche holiday rom-coms and snacking on left over pieces from gingerbread houses, watching the same troupe done over and over again. But he likes that, falling in love, watching two people get together from the weirdest and strangest situations possible. There’s comfort with knowing  _ exactly  _ what’s going to happen: the happy ending kiss that the couples deserve.

“It’s the holidays,” Ben says, “we should be celebrating.”

“You’re right!” Kenji lights up like the sun, walking towards him and pulling him up to stand up with no warning, “dude, you’re insane. You have like… such great ideas!”

“Kenji I was about to say—”

“So we should go to the gift centre,” Kenji interrupts Sammy, she just sighs, “Ben, come on,” he puts his arm around his shoulder, it’s not heavy or suffocating, it’s somehow… comforting, strange. Ben likes this, this human touch, warmth that spreads throughout his insides like warm tea. 

“You okay?” Kenji says after five seconds, “I’m sorry that we didn’t find you earlier and all—”

“—it’s fine… I think, anyways,” they stand in front of the giant gift centre shop, void of christmas decorations that decks the front, no snowmen or bright blinking lights that catches his eyes, “we’re together now. So uh… that’s all the matters.”

He looks up to Kenji, and there it is, that smile. His eyes crinkles, the light hitting him just right which outlines his jawline in a golden haze. His eyes are the colour of the earth, holding so many riches deep underground, golds and diamonds. Ben thinks, he likes the colour dark brown now.

Yeah.

That’s his favourite colour now.

Suddenly Sammy is dragging Yasmina behind her, going into the store and jumping across the counter to go into storage, shouting something along the lines of:  _ there might be some christmas stuff in the inventory! You never know! _

Darius just chuckles.

Brooklynn smiles.

And Kenji shouts:  _ wait for me! _

Ben puts hand sinister in his hands before he enters, behind him Darius stares in awe at the telescopes and books about dinosaurs on the shelves. The light flickers above them, Ben’s skin washes into something akin to porcelain. He stares at the dinosaur plushies, with one of them being similar to Bumpy. He’s way too big to fit inside the building now, he sits outside and guards the whole area.

He goes on his toes and takes it off the wall. He squeezes it, it’s so soft, letting his fingers feel every fibre of the plushie. Ben hugs it, sighing. It smells of manufactured vanilla and the faint smell of chemicals and dust, it’s strangely comforting… even though it would probably give him a rash. 

He loves it.

It reminds him of his pig plushie back at home, the one that he uses to rest his chin on when he’s reading on his bed. This one won’t be a replacement, however, it’s good enough. He chuckles to himself and sees Sammy coming out of the backroom with six, ugly christmas sweaters.

“Dibs on the one that lights up!” Kenji swipes it off Sammy. He’s putting it over his long striped shirt, and stares at the mirror next to him. He laughs, the genuine one that warms up Ben’s chest. It’s the usual green, red and white colour palette, with an ugly looking reindeer that has it’s horns lighting up with greens and reds.

It’s something that Kenji would never wear.

But he looks so happy and ridiculous that it doesn’t matter, White teeth smile, the usual stupid swagger that he carries with himself is gone, and what replaces it is simple laughter. Ben sometimes forgets that Ben is a teenager like him, that he’s fifteen, even though he’s the oldest he’s still just a kid.

Just a kid that sometimes walks down the empty hallways of his giant mansion, knocking on the walls and hearing his own voice echo. Here though, he doesn't look like he does that. He’s so smiley, hushering everyone to wear theirs. Ben wears a red and white snowy- themed sweater. Sammy and Yasmina are wearing matching green and red Christmas tree sweaters while Brooklynn has a soft, pastel peach one that has a snowflake picture in the middle.

Meanwhile, Darius is complaining about his itchy christmas tree sweater.

Ben laughs, while Kenji just sighs and stands next to Ben. There he goes, standing next to him, sticking like a shadow. Ben thinks, he likes this, Kenji being near him. He puts his arm around his shoulder. It feels like a comforting weight.

“Come on, let’s get more,” he says, he squeezes the plushie in his hand. They share the briefest touch of skin, that spark of warmth from their hands touching. It shouldn’t matter much, yet somehow, it does, for some reason that Ben can’t quite shake off. It sticks to him like Kenji does, always there to get something on the shelves for him. 

It’s nice.

“Are you gonna get anything?” Ben asks, he balances the picture books on top of his plushie.

“I don’t really need one—”

“—you should get one,” Ben hums, he walks over to the free stamp cards and keychains, he takes one and feels the cold metal against his palm, “it’s the holidays, the time for giving and stuff.”

“And?”

“ _ And _ ?” Ben scoffs with a smile, “Kenji, we’re stuck on an island full of dinosaurs… you should get something,” he takes Kenji’s hands into his and places the keychain into his palm, the silhouette of the T-rex of the keychain perfectly fits his soft, delicate hands, “I think, you sometimes forget you can have fun, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Kenji… you sometimes forget you’re a teenager,” Ben massages the muscle on Kenji’s thumb, a part of him wants to pull away, but he lets this human touch linger for longer, “that you’re a kid. I watched you become all loose and have fun, that I think I started to be like that too.”

Ben finally lets go, that touch of warmth is gone and he’s stepping back. Kenji closes his palm and smiles, “don’t forget that, Kenji Kon.”

Kenji nudges him on the shoulder and Ben squeezes his plushie tighter. The six of them are fine, acting like kids again, just celebrating the holidays. Sammy is leading them out to the food court and they all follow, their hands full of miscellaneous items just to keep them busy for the night. Darius, however, is already in awe about a book of dinosaurs. Kenji calls him lame. Darius just tells him to shut up.

The way that they look at each other with such fondness makes Ben’s heart melt, they’re practically brothers from another family. This banter between them feels so natural to the both of them.

“You know guys,” Sammy pipes, she piles the badges that she took on the counter vaults over, she through the shelves, finding a tub of hot cocoa powder, “who wants to drink hot cocoa.”

“But there’s no milk…” Darius hums.

“Damn,” she sighs, “you know, I was really hoping to get into the holiday spirit with yall but I guess… it’s just not it today,” she sits on top of the counter, fiddling with the seams of her sweater, “but you know, back at the ranch back home me and my  _ abuela  _ made these really good hot cocoa. She found it on the internet, it was those really spicy hot cocoa ones.”   
  


“I know them!” Brooklynn pipes, she sits on the food court tables next to Darius, Brooklynn fiddles with her stress ball while Darius plays with a dino-themed fidget spinner, “I tried to make it for a vlog but I almost burned down the whole apartment.”

Ben presses his lips into a small line, he sits next to Kenji. Their shoulders touch.

“I know like… the holidays aren't here with us. But we’re here now,” Sammy sighs, “all of us are here together.”

Yasmina, who’s sitting alone with a brand new set of fineliners, looks up to her and smiles. It’s fond. The type that's real, throughout the months, she’s been slowly unravelling and loosening who she was at her very core. He’s like her, a little bit. Ben and Yasmina somehow formed a strange, weird friendship through quiet but comfortable moments. Sometimes Ben lends Yasmina his picture books, while Yasmina shows him her drawings. Currently she’s teaching him anatomy. 

Ben leans into Kenji and smiles, he feels a hand around his shoulder. It feels natural for the both of them, this sort of warmth… it’s soft. It’s not the bright joy like the loud screams that he hears from Sammy or Kenji and Darius’s banters. It’s quiet, seeping in like the morning haze when he wakes up in the morning.

He likes this. Ben thinks.

They all somehow all cross legged in a circle, talking and talking about the random things they’ve gotten. Night finally falls and they pull out the portable heater that buzzes softly, bleeding into the background nosie. Their hands touch, the contact like waves overlapping against the beach, or when Ben touches the spines of his favourite books.

It’s full of: warmth, nostalgia and quiet joy.

Darius talks to Kenji about the book while Kenji just nods, trying to understand dinosaur migration patterns and simply failing. Brooklyn laughs with Sammy while Yasmina just draws the scene unfolding in front of them. The lamp in the middle bathes everything in an orange, fiery hue. It lands onto her page, making her lines softer, smoother.

Outside the first flecks of snow start to fall and land on the window, when Ben catches a glimpse he thinks that he can rest. All of them can. They can be like normal kids again, on the night of the holidays just for  _ once _ . They can worry about the future when it gets down onto it. 

But for now, Ben can watch Kenji snort at Darius’s dumb jokes while Ben scoots over closer to Yasmina to talk about her drawings. 

  
  



End file.
